Defeat at the death, then – defeat that establishes a slightly unwanted statistic: City have now played all of the top three, at least matched them all, but fallen to defeat on every occasion. A fact borne of misfortune from which little should be inferred, or one that suggests we’re not quite there?

We’re not sure. West Ham was a smash-and-grab raid perpetrated against us, Southampton a case of being edged out by a very good side at the height of its powers, and needing to be – and Middlesbrough was a game that swung on two moments. The first was a penalty claim and probable red card not given in our favour, the second an unexpected howitzer of a shot that deserved to win a game that hadn’t really deserved either side to win it. Narrow margins…

On the wrong side of a luckless reverse were: Gulácsi; Rosenior, Chester, Hobbs (c), Dawson; Stewart, McKenna, Evans, Koren; Fryatt, Mclean. That’s the fifth time in succession that XI has taken to the field.

Ah, Boxing Day football. We won’t pretend it’s up there with the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in terms of global prestige, but nonetheless there’s always a certain buzz attached to fixtures on December 26^th. That’d transmitted it to the populaces of Hull and Middlesbrough, with over 2,500 travelling north to be met by another 25,000. A fine turnout from both clubs, and an atmosphere befitting a third-versus-fourth Yorkshire Derby. A proper Event.

It was a grey but unseasonably warm day in the northernmost reaches of God’s Own Country, with things hampered somewhat by a stiff breeze swirling inside the Riverside Stadium. That, along with a pinch of nerves, made for a slightly plodding start to the game. Perhaps it was fitting that the afternoon’s first real chance came from a mistake – a defensive header was woefully executed by Bailey, misdirected it backwards towards Matt Fryatt. He seemed so surprised by this festive gift that he rather panicked, sending his own header well off target from less than ten yards.

The game improved as both sides settled into it, and Bailey had Middlesbrough’s first effort of the match with a sweetly-struck shot from outside the area that Gulácsi caught safely. The Tigers had a couple of chances when a corner fell to Evans and his shot was deflected narrowly wide – from the next set piece the ball fell to Stewart, who dragged a shot wide.

Frustrating stuff really – two of the division’s most attractive sides could have been serving up a classic, yet neither could get their passing game going. Perhaps that’s because each side has more than a splash of substances behind the style, and were equally capable of disrupting the other. It wasn’t a poor game, but pre-match hopes weren’t being met.

On 32, the match saw the first of its two major moments. Fryatt managed to worm free and advanced on goal – he was clear through, about to shoot and a few yards inside the area when he was brusquely hauled down by Bates. The Tiger Nation was at the far end to this, yet it looked and felt a penalty. We howled for what seemed a certain decision, yet play inexplicably continued, culminating in Mclean having a shot from an acute angle that Steele’s legs deflected wide. Before this could be taken, a small group of City players surrounded the referee, clearly unhappy with the official as a torrent of boos crashed down from the distant away end.

In recent years, there exists no parallel from this show of dismay at a referee’s decision from City’s players. This wasn’t feigned injustice, but genuine anger. A penalty and a red card was the only correct decision…but look, referee Swarbrick didn’t get it wrong on purpose. He made a rotten call – maybe because he was unsighted, or saw something that wasn’t there, but it’s a human mistake. The City players quickly remembered that acting like twats over refereeing decisions is the preserve of the Fergusons, Dalglishs and Colins of this world, and took the corner. It being a corner, it came to nothing.

City were comfortably on top at this stage and had another attempt when Andy Dawson blatted an effort at Steele’s goal, which was adeptly saved. The City left-back was cautioned shortly before the break after upending Justin Hoyte, giving Middlesbrough a dangerous free-kick – Robson’s delivery was good, Evans’ covering header was better and the half ended goalless.

Hmm. It was difficult not to dwell upon the non-penalty at the break as we squeezed ourselves onto the concourses in search of beer (available – well done Middlesbrough). The home side had shaded the opening portion of the half, but the Tigers had greatly improved and looked the more likely to open the scoring.

The second half started rather like the first, with the two sides coughing up the ball much more frequently than you’d expect. Not until ten cagey minutes had elapsed did either come close to scoring, and once again it was City – a neat move on the right freed Rosenior, who squared the ball to Koren. However, at just 15 yards from goal it was much too close to goal for the Slovene and his uncommonly weak effort presented an easy save for Steele.

Sadly for the watching neutral that was a rare moment of goalmouth action as opposed to the precursor, and with an hour on the clock it seemed that while both teams were happy to attack, they were wary of over-committing. It made for an odd game – still not a poor one, but with the stakes so high we can forgive a little caution every now and then.

With just over twenty minutes remaining Robbie Brady replaced Cameron Stewart, who’d had a disappointing afternoon – Middlesbrough had adapted their formation to counter City’s style, a compliment indeed, and they’d reserved special attention for Stewart. We can only hope he’s learned a few things about how to prosper even when the focus of such close shackling. Tony Mowbray, that dour defender turned assembler of hugely watchable sides, responded with a double-substitution: Zemmama and Thomson replacing Arca and Ogbeche. With a Koren drive that flew over the bar the only action inbetween this little bout of chess, City replied by introducing Garcia for Mclean.

The two sides swapped chances when Fryatt whacked a shot over from the edge of the area and Williams sent a header wide, but with time running down it seemed set to end with a creditable point apiece.

Then something unexpected yet really quite brilliant happened.

Barry Robson cut in from the right and positively smote a shot from about 30 yards (it could have been more) that flew past Gulácsi. It beat the City keeper at his near post, yet it seemed little blame could be attached to him. It was just that good a shot. The home fans celebratedly with rightful exuberance, while we held our heads in our hands and attempted to be phlegmatic. Not quite everyone succeeded in this dignified stoicism, with a couple of City hotheads attracting the attention of the local constabulary, but was nothing to get too excited about.

City didn’t really look like levelling after this horrible late blow, and the points were Middlesbrough’s, to loud local acclaim.

Undeserved? Probably, but it happens. You won’t need to go back too far to find an occasion where City have won a tight match with a single moment of excellence, and it’s one of those things sides at the top have a habit of doing. C’est la vie.

So, what does it mean for City? It probably suggests that a run towards to the top two in the second half of the season is beyond us. There are probably two or more sides with deeper squads, greater experience, and so on. We’ll cope, because for pretty much the whole of yesterday, and those other meetings with the current top three, we’ve held our own. If there can be encouragement in defeat, we take it from this fixture. Well done on eking it out Middlesbrough, but blooming well played City.